A Kitchen for a Cookbook Author and a Sculptor, Williamsburg Edition - Remodelista
Photography by Dustin Aksland. From Elizabeth Roberts Design/Ensemble Architecture: a live/work Williamsburg loft that means business–with a made-for-TV kitchen... ...a cookbook-writing office, and a vast art studio. Roberts’ clients–Ted Lee, one half of the food duo The Lee Bros., and E.V. Day, an installation artist and sculptor–searched for years to find the perfect space to call home-plus-office and landed in a generously sized... ...ground-floor industrial loft with a great deal of character. When closed, the kitchen is just another part of the home. Roberts retained the original wood lintels above the windows. The generously sized chef’s kitchen is occasionally used for television production and events–the island cooktop and wall ovens are both well suited to filming. The studio backdrop: open shelving made of reclaimed pine sourced by the owners in Brooklyn. Roberts chose glossy white laminate Abstrakt cabinets from Ikea: “The glossy finish was a great juxtaposition to all the industrial textures and dark colors,” she says. His and hers workspaces–a writing office and a sculpture studio–are both separated from the living spaces by 10-by-15-foot sliding partitions that are easy to move yet sturdy enough to mount art on. Says Roberts, “Both of the spaces change constantly depending on how much of the workspace they choose to reveal.” Here, the writing office is closed off from the kitchen. The kitchen, dining, and living rooms are one open layout. The dining table is a simple Ikea wood table with dining chairs by Knoll. Lee and Day discovered the light fixtures that hang above the dining table and kitchen in a vintage store; they are chandelier frames originally from a Miami department store, spray-painted white. The exposed wood ceilings and structural columns and beams are oversized to support the weight of the industrial building, says Roberts. Beyond the dining table, a vintage living room set by Austrian Art Deco designer Paul Frankl.